IKEDA Manabu’s "Rebirth

Sublime worlds have been unveiled by the meticulously fine point of a pen.

Rebirth, a gigantic masterpiece completed over three years, now comes to the palm of your hand as an app.

Artist IKEDA Manabu has garnered more attention in the contemporary art scene than any other artist today. Ikeda's works express dynamic worlds founded in ideas from natural scenery and cityscapes to modern motifs that surpass the generation. Extremely fine line strokes ingeniously drawn with mapping pens often used for Japanese comic books bring these worlds to life in a way that mystifies the viewer.

Rebirth, which was announced in 2016 as the latest print from Manabu Ikeda, gained notoriety both in and outside of Japan as a piece inspired by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. As if lead by fate to America, Manabu Ikeda confronted a gigantic 3 × 4 meter canvas over three years -- the most time he has ever spent on a single piece -- at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin. Every stroke of the pen bares all of the artist's suffering in self reflection, his emotionally powerful daily journey through each stage of life and his many discovers as he underwent the task of brining his vision to fruition.

This app takes advantage of ultra-high resolution digital archiving data of this work obtained through a large ortho scanner developed by Toppan Printing that is dedicated to cultural assets. This technology has realized a way for audiences to see every single minute pen stroke engraved in this gigantic canvas of paper from right in the palm of their hand.

Please take this chance to relive the miraculous passion found in each and every one of Ikeda's pen strokes.